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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Steady Days: A Review

There were a few books that I put on my Christmas Wish List this year. One of them was Steady Days by blogger, Jamie Martin. Her blog, "Steady Mom," has been a source of inspiration to me during my first year of being a mom, so I was definitely excited to receive the book on Christmas morning.

We've all heard this popular cliche, "Being a mom is a full-time job." And it's most certainly true. We are responsible for raising, entertaining, cleaning, disciplining, and nurturing a child (or children) 24 hours a day. Of course there are those few hours when they sleep, but even then, on any given day, those hours can be cut short or eliminated altogether. On those days, we can't whine about losing our lunch break, otherwise known as "me time." Rather we must be on our game and ready to continue the raising, entertaining, cleaning, disciplining, and nurturing.

Jamie's mission in life, and in this book, is to approach this job of parenting with intention and professionalism.

From the opening paragraph:

I am not a perfect mother. Often I struggle with impatience; sometimes I lack the enthusiasm I long for. I make many mistakes, just like my children. As they are maturing as children, I am maturing as a mother. In any career, experience allows us to grow, improve, and learn. But unlike other professions, many of us mothers have never had any training to prepare us for this new job filled with diapers, tanrums, and sleepless nights. We need to equip ourselves with practical tools that allow us to give our personal best to our young children, helping us thrive in our strengths and overcome our weaknesses."

If anyone knows about intentional and professional parenting, it's Jamie. She welcomed 3 children into her family in just a few short years-only 22 months separate the oldest from the youngest. Through all of the chaos of the early years, she developed a strategy to maintain intentional parenting.

Her book gives practical ways to develop a daily schedule while still maintaining flexibility. She provides ways to keep and record your child's memories, artwork, and life without having to devote hours to scrapbooking.

Each sentence is full of tips, as well as inspiration. Nothing about this book is overwhelming, but rather peaceful and encouraging.

Perfect for the first time mom, or the mom who has been parenting for a while but could use a boost of inspiration, I recommend this book for any parent.

It is definitely one that is staying on my bookshelf and will be referred to over and over throughout my career as a mom.